Without Envy or Hatred

And Anathapindika said, "I see that you are the Buddha, the Blessed One, the Tathagata, and I wish to open to you my whole mind. Please, listen to my words, then advise me as to what I should do.

"My life is full or work, and having acquired great wealth, I am surrounded with cares. Yet I enjoy my work, and apply myself to it with diligence. Many people are in my employ and depend upon the success of my enterprises.

"Now, I have heard your disciples praise the bliss of the hermit and denounce the unrest of the world. 'The Holy One,' they say, 'has given up his kingdom and his inheritance, and has found the path of righteousness, thus setting an example to all the world on how to attain Nirvana.'

"My heart yearns to do what is right and to be a blessing to my fellows. Allow me to ask you, Must I give up my wealth, my home, and my business enterprises, and, like yourself, go into homelessness in order to attain the bliss of a religious life?"

And the Buddha replied, "The bliss of a religious life is attainable by every one who walks in the noble eightfold path. He that cleaves to wealth had better cast it away than allow his heart to be poisoned by it; but he who does not cling to wealth, and yet possessing riches, uses them rightly, will be a blessing to his fellows.

"It is not life and wealth and power that enslave humanity, but the clinging to life and wealth and power.

"The monk who retires from the world in order to lead a life of leisure will have no gain, for a life of laziness is a great wrong, and the lack of self-work is to be shunned.

"The Dharma I teach does not require a person to go into homelessness or to resign from the world, unless they feel called to do so. But the Dharma I teach does require every person to free themselves from the illusion of self, to cleanse their heart, and to give up the grasping for pleasure, and to lead a life of goodness.

"And whatever people do, whether they remain in the world as artisans, merchants, or officers of the king, or retire from the world and devote themselves to a life of religious meditation, let them put their whole heart into their task; let them be diligent and energetic, and, if they are like the lotus, which, although it grows in the water, yet remains untouched by the water, if they struggle in life without envy or hatred, if they live in the world not a life of self but a life of truth, then surely joy, peace, and bliss will dwell in their minds."